A WEST Lothian man’s life changed completely last week after his distressing phobia was cured on television programme This Morning.

Some dread the presence of deadly animals or falling from great heights, but Alex Torrance (25) suffered from koumpounophobia – a fear of buttons.

Alex, who stays in Whitburn with his fiancée Pamela and 10-month-old daughter, Faye, went on the show to speak to psychotherapists and personal development coaches, Nik and Eva Speakman in a bid to lose his fear.

Alex told This Morning that he knew the phobia was “silly” but that it was really affecting him.

“I had a phobia of shirt buttons and I just couldn’t wear shirts,” Alex told the Courier.

“I saw them and I’d have to wipe my mouth and take deep breaths and look away. When my fiancée was shopping she’d deliberately buy clothes without them. If there were dresses or things she wanted to get she just wouldn’t buy them.

“It was the same with my daughter, we’d make sure she didn’t have them on.”

Alex says he had suffered from the bizarre condition since around the age of five but didn’t feel as though anyone understood his problem.

“Nobody ever hears about it so they were always taken aback when I told them,” he said. “They asked me if I was being serious.

“People laugh, it’s understandable – I’d laugh. But I went through school with it so I’ve heard it all before.”

Alex’s fear meant he also had restrictions on the type of career he could pursue as well.

“I would love to be an accountant but you have to wear a shirt,” said Alex, who works in the Saltire in Carmondean. “I’ve always done bar work which has suited me.”

The Speakman’s treat phobias, addictions and conditions such as eating disorders, panic attacks and obsessive compulsions.

On the show they said Alex’s condition was difficult to deal with as it also included OCD and habitual behaviour which involved him covering his mouth at the sight of buttons.

Alex said: “I was nervous going on the show. I went down and didn’t see how they were going to fix it. I never thought they would do it – they are just geniuses.

“They asked me lots of questions. They asked for an example of an experience I had with buttons then took me to a bad place then a good place before I took a deep breath. Then they just asked me more questions.”

And his time with the Speakman’s was a complete success, as Alex demonstrated on the show by rummaging through a jar of buttons and meeting a Pearly King and Queen.

And he has never felt more confident about his future.

He said: “I dress my daughter all the time and now I’ll put her in a wee cardigan which has buttons on it, so they are always there.

“The pub have always been really good with me. A while ago the owners said they were going to get new uniforms and I explained the situation to them and they changed their plans for me.

“So that’s why I don’t want to just leave. I want to stay a while and maybe go to college as well.

“I did up my shirt this morning and Nik said this would happen, but I still felt weird about it.

“It’s been a habit for 20 years and it does still feel weird, but I can do it now.”

For details on Nik and Eva Speakman and their new UK tour go to www.speakman.tv.